Valley Bank Auto Loan: Does Valley Give or Require a CARFAX Report?

If you finance a car through Valley Bank, you won't get a free CARFAX or AutoCheck from the bank, and its auto loan page doesn't say it needs one to approve you. Valley does offer direct new, used and lease buyout loans, but only in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Alabama, and it doesn't post rates or vehicle limits online. Most of its auto lending actually happens at car dealers, so the person most likely to hand you a history report is the salesperson, and you should treat that copy as a starting point.

I read Valley's Auto Loans page, its loan payment page and its auto loan calculator on Sunday, October 18, 2026, and searched them for CARFAX, AutoCheck and history report language. Nothing came up. I also read Valley National Bancorp's annual report on Form 10-K for 2025, filed February 27, 2026, which explains far more about how the bank lends on cars than its consumer pages do. I didn't apply, so I can't tell you what a loan officer says on the phone.

What Valley's direct auto loan page promises

The page covers new car loans, used car loans and lease buyouts, all subject to credit approval. Valley advertises rate discounts for new or used hybrid and electric vehicles, plus discounts for existing customers. You apply online or at a branch, Valley says you'll usually have a decision with a rate and terms in less than 48 hours, and then you go to a branch to sign. It doesn't list APRs, terms, a maximum vehicle age or mileage, or loan-to-value limits. The calculator only estimates a payment from numbers you type in. So as of Oct 18, 2026, Valley has no published rate I can quote. Get one in writing, with a date on it, before you start negotiating.

Most Valley car loans start at a dealership

The 10-K is blunt about this. Valley describes itself as an auto lender mainly in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Connecticut, Delaware and Alabama, offering indirect loans on new or used cars, and it says originations come largely through approved dealers. Its auto loans grew 14.9% in 2025 to $2.2 billion, which the bank credits partly to expanding its indirect dealer network. That's a longer list of states than the direct page, so if a dealer in Pennsylvania or Connecticut says "we're sending this to Valley," that can be true even though you couldn't apply directly. In that setup the dealer picks the car, writes the contract and passes it to the bank, and nothing Valley publishes says anyone there checks the car's past for you.

Why the history check stays your job

A bank prices a loan off the car's value and your credit, and a lender's book value doesn't know whether the car in front of you had a door and quarter panel replaced. If you pay clean-car money for a car with a reported accident, you can end up owing more than it's worth for years. Our post on whether a dealer's free AutoCheck is enough covers when the dealer copy is fine and when it isn't. If you're buying in Florida or New Jersey, read our Florida salvage and rebuilt title rules or New Jersey salvage and rebuilt title rules, and ask Valley up front whether it lends on a branded title at all, because the page doesn't say.

One more dealer-channel trap. If you drive home before the financing is final, the deal can come back with new terms. Our yo-yo financing guide explains what to do if that happens to you.

How Valley compares with nearby banks

TD Bank makes no direct auto loans in the U.S. and lends only through dealers, per our TD Bank auto loan post. M&T lends both directly and through dealers, covered in our M&T auto loan post. Valley sits in between. It has a direct option in four states, but the 10-K makes clear the dealer side is the bigger business. None of the three hands you a report.

Before you sign

Decode the VIN on NHTSA's vPIC decoder so the year and model match the contract, search NMVTIS for title brands, and pull a full report. CARFAX's report page lists what its data covers. We're a licensed CARFAX and AutoCheck reseller, not affiliated with CARFAX, AutoCheck, Experian or Valley. In mid October 2026 our guest price is about $5.50, members pay about $4.50, and a bundle of both brands is around $6.75, compared with roughly $39.99 to $44.99 at retail. Prices do change, so go by what checkout shows you.

Sources

• Valley: Auto Loans; Valley: Auto Loan Calculator, read Oct. 18, 2026
• Valley National Bancorp, Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, filed Feb. 27, 2026 (SEC EDGAR, not linked because sec.gov blocks automated checks)
• NHTSA vPIC; NMVTIS; CARFAX: Vehicle History Reports